What symptoms define a sinus infection to you?

I’ve got chronic sinus problems. I’m allergic to cats and a stray fell into my lap. If I miss a single day of my allergy med. my sinuses go crazy.

I’m not new to sinus problems, but I’ve been getting some weird symptoms lately. When I wake up in the morning I feel a pressure in my ears – but it more or less feels like fluid. Also, I’ve got a slight bit of vertigo (which could be a preexisting side effect from another med). And the lymph-nodes in my neck are kind of swollen.
I should probably go get some antibiotics or something, but I really would rather everyone tell me to take a lot of anti-histamine. ;P

(I do have the average pressure in my cheeks and behind my eyes, etc. Just thought that the ear pain was kind of strange..)